SuitabookSolomon
Marilyn Bishop Shaw
- Reading
- Read together if useful, pausing to distinguish the family’s immediate hardships from the larger historical question of racial welcome. Invite the reader to notice how each family member sees Solomon’s choices.
- Themes
- A young person’s direction and family expectations: Solomon prefers fishing and hunting, while Moses hopes he will focus on farming. Lela tries to keep peace and continue Solomon’s education as the family works to survive. The conflict is presented through differing hopes for Solomon’s future, while the family’s shared hardships keep them in one another’s lives.
- Life after enslavement: Newly freed, the Freeman family builds a homestead in north Florida; the story raises whether Black settlers will be welcomed in a place where Black people had been enslaved. The historical circumstances place the family’s search for independence alongside questions of racial acceptance.
- Worth knowing
- The family faces harsh survival challenges, and the story raises whether Black settlers will be welcomed in a place where Black people had previously been enslaved. A newcomer’s whip is also prominent.